


Relief

by Aerilon452



Category: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: Complete, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2104851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerilon452/pseuds/Aerilon452
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tris manages to survive her wounds long enough for help to come for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Relief

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a way for me to reconcile what happened at the end of ALLEGIANT

RELIEF:

 

Tobias new something was wrong. He could feel it deep in his heart as the trucks rumbled back to the Bureau. Something had happened; he just couldn't put his finger on what was making him uncomfortable. There was peace in the city; his mother and father were negotiating. The memory serum would have been released by now at the compound to stop the others. So, what was making him feel rattled? Tris. Her name whispered through his mind like alight caress, the tips of his fingers itched to touch her skin, to trace the birds along her collar bone. The truck was an hour out, for now he would try to calm himself, to assure himself everything had happened as planned.

 

COMPOUND:

 

The moment the doors opened, he saw Caleb… alive. Anger rose in him like a tidal force. His long legs carried him through the crowd of people, his fingers fisting in the front of his shirt. "Where is she?!" Tobias shouted. "WHERE!" Now he knew why he was unsettled. Caleb, the traitor, the boy responsible for Tris being tortured at the hands of the Erudite, was alive. That meant Tris was hurt. His mind refused to contemplate the fact that she was dead. He wouldn't allow that thought in.

"In surgery…." Caleb's voice quaked. "Perhaps she's out by now…."

Tobias dropped Caleb and took off at a face pace to the side of the compound where the medical facilities were located. People faded, became a blur as he ran. He knew that he had to get to her, to be with her. The halls faded, his feet used to the corridors after walking them so many times. Then he saw it, the doubled doors that would lead him to the medical ward. Tobias burst through the doors, his chest heaving with the effort to breathe through his panic. For a moment he couldn't find her, couldn't see his Tris, but on the last bed he saw her. Suddenly his chest expanded letting in air, but the fear was still with him. Before he could get to her a nurse stopped him, and with a calmer tone he asked. "Is she…?"

"She's on the mend." The nurse answered. "We stopped the bleeding, but she'll have to be in here for a week."

"Can I see her?" Tobias asked, his voice still quaking, and his eyes on her in the cot lying too still for his liking.

"Yes, but she is still very weak and just coming out of sedation."

Tobias side stepped the nurse without another word and slowly crossed the room to where his precious Tris lay looking close to death. The moment he was to her side, his knees buckled taking him to the floor. His left hand reached out, touching her abdomen needing to feel that she did indeed draw breath. "Tris…." He whispered her name as reverently as a prayer because to him, she was a gift, the greatest gift he thought he never deserved. "Look at me…"

Tris thought she had died down in that lab. She had seen her mother had asked if it was her time, but she was still attached to her body. Someone was calling her name, pulling her towards consciousness. She knew the voice. Tobias. With difficulty she tried to open her eyes, tried to see if it was him, but she was too well drugged. Painkillers. All she could manage was the flex of her fingers before blackness pulled at her again. She tried to fight it, to open her eyes to see Tobias, to let him know that she was alive. Tris was just too weak, too drugged.

Tobias didn't know when it happened, but he had fallen asleep next to her bed. When his eyes opened, focused, light was streaming through the windows, but that wasn't what caught his attention. Tris was awake, she was looking at him, and she was smiling. Despite sleeping on the floor in an awkward position, Tobias moved to kneel next to her, his hands on either side of her blanket covered hips. "What happened?" His voice was steadier now.

Tris licked her lips before saying, "Alarms went off," She breathed in with a wheeze. "Caleb and I had to act sooner than we thought." Again she took another breath, her chest rising with muted pain. "I had to take his place, let him cover me." Tris licked her lips again, "The death serum, I survived it. I fought it." This time when she spoke she had more power to her voice. "David found me there, but I waited for others to join before I triggered the memory serum even knowing I would get shot."

Tobias was so grateful to have her alive that he only smiled at her, lightly scolding, "You just can help it can you? Still putting your life at risk." He couldn't put any anger into his voice, or on his face. Tobias was relieved that she was awake, that she was breathing.

"Yup," Tris coughed, pain radiating through her body. Her moment of renewed strength quickly faded. "At least I have two new scars to join the ones I already have." She joked lifting her hand up to touch his face to try and ease some of the worry. For the first time in months, Tris allowed herself to feel the hurt ravaging her body. For months she had been on the go, one crisis to the next without much time to rest, to recover, and now she had that time.

Tobias could see the tension in her body. Leaning closer he brushed his lips lightly over her forehead in the hopes that it would put her at ease. She relaxed marginally. "How much pain are you in?" He asked, panic nearly spilling into his voice. This wasn't the first time he had seen Tris hurt, but this was the first time she had been near death and he hadn't been here for her.

Tris had a moment where she could lie, where she could put on a brave face for him, but she had promised not to lie to him anymore. "A lot." She confessed, putting her hand up as far as she could, her fingers digging into his shirt. It was her way of asking him to stay with her. Tris didn't want to close her eyes, only to have them open to find that Tobias was gone.

Tobias took her hand, lacing their fingers together. He moved from her side, and with his free hand he pulled the closest cot over so he could lie down, so he could stay close to her. With the pillow under his head, he muttered, "I'm not going anywhere." He promised making sure to keep his hand in hers. "Go back to sleep and I will be here."

Tris tried to move, to shift to her side so she could see him, but the moment she started to move a new level of agony moved through her, more than she had felt during her initiate training. A pain filled gasp escaped her before she could grit her teeth and swallow the discomfort. She felt his hands flex in hers, in response to her pain. "I'm ok…" She gasped out. "Just trying to get more comfortable."

Tobias stayed where he was on his side watching her in profile. He could see the way she gritted her teeth, the way she fought back the agony inside of her. She was the bravest person he had ever met, braver than he often felt he was. Amar had called him Four, and he wore it like a shield until he met her. Tris had seen right through him. He hadn't even tried to stop it. "Go to sleep," Tobias whispered, lightly squeezing her hand. "I will be here." He promised again. This time, her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing evened out. It wasn't long before Tobias followed her.

TWO YEARS LATER:

Morning light filtered in through the ceiling to floor window. Tris woke up in familiar surroundings, Four's apartment in Dauntless. She snuggled into the covers, buried her face in the pillow that carried the scent of Tobias. Today felt different than all the others. She wasn't sure why. But if she could fend off actually waking up for a few more minutes then she might be able to shake the feeling. Breathing in and breathing out more and more of the waking world crept in forcing Tris from the comfort of the bed. Pushing them back, she climbed out, grabbed her clothes, and headed to the showers.

Since returning to the city, most of the faction mandates had been dissolved. Though, that didn't stop most of the factions from forming again. Candor. Erudite. Dauntless. Amity. Abnegation. It was familiar and it was comfortable. Tris looked at new faces, familiar colors of the factions. She knew that the jobs in the city were now divided up among the whole population. One giant work schedule. Today, Tris was slated to work in security along with Christina. She would have thought her best friend would have gone back to live with her family, but Christina had taken up living in an apartment in Dauntless. It was nice to be back, nice to be surrounded by the familiar.

Tobias waited outside the showers watching for Tris. The water shut off a few minutes ago and he resisted the urge to go to her, to kiss her newly clean skin and the bullet scars she had on her back. In his hand he held a black jade band that he had been holding on to for weeks trying to find the right time to give it to her. Today was the day, he knew it. Christina had mentioned in passing that a group of them were going to the Handcock building, to the very top. Tobias had decided to join them, in spite of his fear of heights. Once, while Tris was still and initiate, she had gone with some of the Dauntless-born to the very top of the Handcock building to use the zip line. Now he was going to suggest that they go there with the others; Christina, Zeke, Shauna, George, and Amar.

Looking up, a sound caught his attention; the click of boots on stone, Tobias saw Tris walking out of the showers with a towel to her long blonde hair. With a smile on his lips, he teased, "I thought you'd never get out of bed." Reaching out, he slipped his arms around her waist tugging her close. "Some of us are going to the top of the Handcock building." Tris's eyes lit up in excitement. "I thought it a good day to get over my fear of heights." He smiled and laughed when she threw her arms over his shoulders. Tobias hugged her, lifting her against him. Life as it was happened to be better before, but nothing gave him more stability, more peace than Tris. She was his heart, his soul. She was his reason for living.

Tris pulled back with the broadest smile on her face. The one and only time she had been on the zip line she had loved it. "You're really going to do this?" She asked even though she was over joyed to be able to share this with him. "If you do this, you may be called Three from now on!" Tris laughed. Tobias just made a face at her that had her laughing harder. She moved back from him, taking his hand, and together they ran through the stone halls of Dauntless. For a moment it felt like the old days when she was an initiate, only this was better. They were free from the faction system.

Tobias tensed his body with Tris at his side waiting for the train to rumble by. He heard it, felt it in the gravel under his feet, and then he saw the train coming closer. A few more seconds and then they were off, running towards the open compartment door. His long legs carried him parallel to the train and he was able to reach the middle compartment before her. Twisting, his hand gripped the handle and he was pulling himself inside. Seconds late Tris joined him. Her cheeks were red, her chest was heaving, but they were used to this. This was fun for them.

Tris stood in the open doorway of the train watching the city roll by. Tobias was behind her, his hands always at her hips, lightly resting there while the tips of his index fingers drew odd patterns on her skin. Sparks raced through her, as powerful as the first time he touched her. Her hands flexed on the bar, her body tensing to jump as the Handcock building was coming up. Tobias backed away letting her jump first. She launched herself out, ran to keep her balance, and looked up the moment Tobias came to a stop next to her, but this wasn't it. Together they took off running; hand in hand.

In the elevator Tobias held tight to Tris's hand as the car sped towards the very top floor. He made sure to keep his breathing even, not to give away any of the distress that he was feeling. His heart was beating a million miles a minute the closer the elevator sped towards the top floor of the Handcock building. Tobias thought that it would pound right out of his chest before they reached their destination. Just when he thought his heart couldn't take it, the elevator stopped on the top floor, the doors opened, and Tobias saw a gaping hole in the ceiling with a ladder leading up to the roof. It was now or never. He followed her up the ladder' it reminded him when they climbed the Ferris wheel, she had slipped, and his hands had immediately gone to her hips to steady her.

Tris felt exhilarated being up here again. The last time, and the first time, she had been here, she had been with some of the Dauntless faction, the Dauntless born. That night she had felt like she was flying. Next to her Tobias held her hand, the warm weight of his fingers twining with hers. He had seemed on edge, almost eager about something all day. "What is it?" She turned to him asking with a smile. "You've been acting weird all day." With her free hand Tris poked his shoulder.

'It's now or never.' Tobias repeated those words over in his mind when he took his hand from hers. Inside his pocket he pulled free a black jade band inscribed with the three ravens from her collar bone and the Dauntless flames behind it. Taking her hand, he breathed in, saying, "This is a promise," Tobias slid the ring on her left ring finger, "That I will never want anyone but you in my life." Tris stared at the ring, and then turned her gaze to him. The light of happiness in her eyes filled him with more love than he thought he had for her already. "You're it for me, my once in a lifetime."

Tris threw her arms over his shoulders and hugged him. She knew Tobias hadn't proposed marriage. It was a promise. He was binding his life to hers with this vow to never love another. Setting her lips to his ear she replied, "I will never love anyone else, not the way I love you." Tobias hugged her harder and for a moment she could forget that their friends were standing around, looking at them, cheering, laughing, and smiling like they hadn't in years. Tris pulled back and added, "This is my promise to you." Still lost in the power of his gaze, she angled her head and kissed him sweetly, gently, much as she had that first night she had spent with him in his apartment after he had saved her.

Christina interrupted, "Now, who is gonna jump first!" Tris and Tobias looked at each other and shook their heads in unison. Someone else could go first this time.


End file.
